


Cecidia, Who Trespasses Against Time

by AverillOpal



Category: Otherfaith Religion & Lore
Genre: Drowning, F/F, Not A Happy Ending, Obsessive Love, Revenge, Unrequited Love, Violation, Violence, vengeance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23678896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AverillOpal/pseuds/AverillOpal
Summary: Cecidia’s tears were bitter and vengeful now. She no longer dreamed sweet fantasies of love, dancing, and passionate embraces.Now, she only dreamt of the storm.
Kudos: 3





	Cecidia, Who Trespasses Against Time

Dreaming as she did, Cecidia knew love -- knew it in the form of the woman who was so tall She wore the clouds as a veil. Every night, there were dreams. the Ophelia, Her dark waters rising in storm-swept winds, full of fury and majesty all the same. Cecidia felt her heart rise with emotion just as powerful as that storm, danger and awe bleeding into one another till they were one and the same. 

To her, the meaning was plain. Her love she professed daily, and nightly she dreamed and dreamed. On the River’s banks, Cecidia had left all manner of gifts. Weeping, praying, and confessing love, she let them all drown. Everything Cecidia had loved -- whether amber beads or orange blossom honey or sweet wildflowers -- she watched them sink into the water. 

But the River was unmoved. 

Cecidia went on dreaming of her love, and days and nights began to weep and melt together, till they were one and the same. Glorious visions appeared before Cecidia’s eyes. She danced with her love while snow fell in her hair and the Ophelia’s mask shone like the moon. the Ophelia pressed gifts into her hands as it rained. She embraced Cecidia and held her close, and the spirit spoke with such fervent affection that she could not help but weep in the Ophelia’s arms. 

Entranced by these dreams, by day Cecidia sought her lover again and again. But every time, the Ophelia took no notice. Cecidia grew troubled by her lover’s behavior. Surely the god should not turn away so coldly, she reasoned. 

* * *

In desperation, Cecidia lost her patience and confronted the god at last, her cinnabar eyes blazing. 

“Every day I give you all that I have, all that I am. I have loved you faithfully, day by day, night by night, and you repay me with cold indifference! How can you think I deserve this treatment? Where are your embraces and kisses now? I see only cold water and nothing else -- no lover of mine!”

But even as she pleaded, the god’s face was stone, as plain as slate.

“What you have seen are dreams,” the Ophelia replied. “Dreams and nothing more.”

Hearing this, Cecidia’s anger blazed brighter. “What about our love? What about our children?” she screamed.

“Children? There are _none_ , Cecidia.”

The spirit’s face split with pain, as though taking the force of these words as a horrid wound. Falling to her knees, Cecidia’s eyes lay upon the water before her, where she could see her own face reflected and distorted. 

“If you would only acknowledge...” Cecidia spoke through gritted teeth, “It may not be yet… but it is meant to be! I have seen it!”

“No,” the Ophelia spoke softly, and Her voice became the rush of water again, and Cecidia was alone where she knelt on the riverbank.

* * *

It took a few days before she found the place, but Cecidia had long since stopped dreaming. Still, she was determined to prove that her dreams _had_ been true. If the Ophelia did not believe her, she would have to _prove_ that their connection existed. That in the future, they _were_ lovers.

Carefully, Cecidia stepped from shore to thin crystals of ice floating on the River. Light as she was, Cecidia knew how to walk upon the surface as water striders do. If she stepped falsely, her quick wings -- thin and clear as glass -- would catch her.

Onward she walked, yearning for the future that would convince her lover of the truth. Her vision became blurry, like a window flooded by rain. Orb-like tears filled her eyes, each one with colorful dreams floating on its surface. She saw strange things she did not understand, and things too strange to remember. But after a time, she saw them: her children. So delighted was she that she forgot her place and cried out in victory. 

Instantly, the trance shattered and the visions and dreams evaporated. Cecidia found herself with poor footing and her wings weighed down with drops of water -- not quick enough to lift Cecidia away before the River rose like ropes and coiled tight around Cecidia’s wrists and ankles, dragging her down into the water.

* * *

In the Wastes, Cecidia was alone again. Filled with rage, she now felt only hate for the Ophelia. Only a cruel god would treat their faithful lover so unfairly, binding her wrists and ankles with heavy chains that dropped deep into the swamp. Now, Cecidia’s tears were bitter and vengeful. She no longer dreamed sweet fantasies of love, dancing, and passionate embraces. 

Now, she only dreamt of the storm. 

Her eyes blazed as she saw it in her mind, knowing that, even if she had been denied everything else, she still had this. Her wings had not been bound, and she would need them. As she began to drum them rapidly against the foggy air, there was a rumble in the distance. Cecidia grinned wickedly. The thunder was faint at first, but as it grew stronger, Cecidia felt electrified. Stretching her antennae, she began to feel a charge in the air. There was _always_ the potential for a storm, if one simply provided the spark. 

Eyes gleaming, Cecidia could almost see them again. And with passion and rage, she _wanted_ to see them now -- more than _anything_ else. _Not_ the face of her cruel lover, the one who had scorned her -- the ones Cecidia would send out after herself, into the future the Ophelia had denied her.

The clouds were gathering and darkening overhead, as if they were being painted by a brush as she watched. Cecidia could feel it in the air -- it was almost time. Now, she beat her wings as fast as she could, willing the whole sky to be set ablaze and set alight. Her anger and fury possessed her like madness, and she reached her hands downward into the murky water, grabbing what she could -- slimy reeds, stones, snakes, frogs’ eggs -- as thunder roared and lightning cracked the sky. The bolt tore through Cecidia and burned her wings off clean, but she laughed as her body was broken, for within each hand she now held _life_ . Each in the shape of a brown seed the size of her fist, Cecidia held them -- the children she had stolen from the one who had refused her, who had wished her to have _none_. 

The rain was pouring down heavily as the storm continued to rage. Having achieved her purpose and nearing the end, Cecidia used the last of her strength to cast the two seeds into the distance, far away from the swamp where she was confined. With that, she fell down into the murky water. As the rain continued to pour, the swamp flooded and rose -- and Cecidia disappeared beneath the surface.

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: https://opalfish.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/notes-on-cecidias-story/


End file.
